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This is a reading from 1 Peter 4:12

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through 19.

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Beloved, do not be surprised
at the fiery trial when it comes

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upon you to test you as though
something strange were happening to you.

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But rejoice
insofar as you share Christ's sufferings.

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But you may also rejoice and be glad
when his glory is revealed.

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If you are insulted
for the name of Christ, you are blessed,

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because the spirit of glory
and of God rests upon you.

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But let none of you suffer as a murderer,
or a thief, or an evildoer, or a meddler.

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Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian,

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let him not be ashamed,
but let him glorify God in that name.

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For it is time for judgment
to begin at the household of God.

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And if it begins with us,
what will be the outcome

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for those
who do not obey the gospel of God?

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And if the righteous is scarcely saved,

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what will become of the ungodly
and the sinner?

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Therefore, let those who suffer
according to God's will,

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and trust their souls
to a faithful creator, while doing good.

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Well, good morning and

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welcome to the weekly gathering of Christ
Community Chapel.

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My name is Zach.

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I'm one of the pastors here,

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and I'm so glad
that we get to be part of your weekend.

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And now our first 10:30 service.

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Listen, I know you have had to disrupt
your schedule.

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To accommodate a new service.

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I just want you to hear me say thank you.

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And I also want to encourage you
with something.

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You know, two years ago,
we launched a Thursday night service.

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We asked people to,
to really radically disrupt,

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their schedules, to help us reach people
who might not be able to come

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on the weekends.

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And that service has easily
become my favorite.

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And I think the reason
why is because there's something powerful

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about a group of people
who want to join God in what he's doing.

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And I don't want you to be jealous
because we have four new service times

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and they're all competing
for my affection.

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Okay,

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so I'm open, but but I want you to know,
even the energy in the room just during

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our worship set is a reminder that,
we are joining God and his desire

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to connect with more and more families
who can come at more and more time.

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So thank you.

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Whatever sacrifice looks like
for your family, thank you for making it.

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Hey, I'm also excited about continuing now
week nine of our ten week sermon series.

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We've been going through the letter
of First Peter.

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A pretty simple reason why.

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First Peter is a letter written

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to a growing church
in the middle of a hostile culture.

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We think there are a lot of parallels
between that church

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and this one, between that culture
and this one, which means then, that

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the message
that God has for that church in that time

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is very similar to the message
he has for this church in this time.

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And so we've been leaning
into that message every week.

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We're going to continue that.

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In fact, if you have a Bible,
would you take it out? Open it.

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To first Peter chapter four.

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Perfectly
okay to use your phone or your tablet.

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And hey, if you're here
and you're new to church, been a while.

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Maybe church hasn't
been part of your story first.

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I'm so glad you're here.
Probably a huge step for you.

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I'm glad you took it.

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Everything that happens this weekend is
as much for you as it is for anybody else.

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If you want, the verses
will be on the screen behind me.

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You can just look at that.

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But if you want to hold a Bible

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in the back of East Hall
or in the back of the pew in front of you

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here in this service,
you'll find a Bible, same one I use.

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And the reading today is on page 955.

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Four points I'm going to use as an outline
to guide our time together.

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Very simple. Here are the four things
I want to show you.

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Number one, suffering is inevitable.

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Number two, not all suffering is the same.

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Number three, all suffering has a purpose.

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Number four, suffering asks a question.

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All right.

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Let's start with the first one.

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Suffering is inevitable.

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If you've been coming
for the first Peter series

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and you feel a little suffering fatigue,

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like when you heard
that's what we were talking about

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today, you thought, oh,
not another sermon on suffering.

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I want you to know right back at you
that that feeling is mutual.

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It's a lot of talking about suffering.

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In fact,
I was curious, so I looked it up 37.4%

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of the words in First Peter are directly
about suffering.

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Over one third of the words in this letter
are directly about suffering.

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This letter talks a lot about suffering.

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So if you feel like the sermon series

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has been a lot about that, you're right,
because the book itself is about that.

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Actually,
the Bible talks a lot about suffering.

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It has a lot to say, well,
look at the way this passage starts,

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because I think this captures it
pretty well.

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First Peter chapter four,
verse 12 says this, beloved,

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do not be surprised at the fiery trial
when it comes upon you to test you

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as though
something strange were happening to you.

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He says two things here
that I think are interesting.

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The first is he says,
don't be surprised when you suffer.

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Don't be surprised.

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He says suffering is going to happen.

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Suffering is inevitable.

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By the way, that's true for all people.

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It's not just true for Christians.

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It's not just true for religious people.

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Suffering is a part of the human
experience.

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Suffering is inevitable, part of life,
he says. Don't be surprised.

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And he says this don't feel bad
for yourself.

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He says, don't be surprised, as though
something strange was happening to you.

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I think he's saying that when we suffer,
we tend to say, oh, why me?

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And why does this always happen to me?

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And why am I
the only one who goes through this?

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And he's saying, that's not true.

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Suffering is a part of everyone's life.

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Suffering is inevitable.

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You're you're not alone.

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All people will suffer.

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The Bible says that a lot.

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And you might be thinking,
you know, God, I know

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I got an extra 30 minutes to sleep and,
going from 10 to 1030,

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but but I'm still not really in the mood
on a Sunday morning for suffering.

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Especially when,

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going outside in Northeast Ohio
today is its own form of suffering.

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Not really looking for that.

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Have you ever thought about

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why God talks so much about
suffering in the Bible? Why?

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Here's why.

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I don't know if you have had
the experience of flying on an airplane.

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If you're paying attention to the news
soon no one will fly on airplanes.

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But on an airplane, there are always.

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There's always someone,
maybe multiple someones.

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Maybe you're the
someone who's scared of flying

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like it's in the air on the plane,
which I always find interesting

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because at some point before you take off,
the pilot will come on the intercom and

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and she'll say,

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hey, thanks for flying with this airline
and we're glad

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we're going to get you to Phoenix
or wherever you're going.

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It's going to take this long.

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And then sometimes
the pilot will say, hey,

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I want you to know, about 20 minutes in,
we're going to hit some pretty rough air.

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We're going to go through some turbulence.

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And so I'm going to keep
the seatbelt sign on.

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I'm going to keep the flight attendants
in their chairs

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until we get to a certain altitude.

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Then it'll be safe to walk around.

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And that's funny because what the pilot
is really saying is, hey, some of you

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are really freaking out about
flying and you should be

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right.

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Like, why would you say that?

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And increase people's anxiety.

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But but the reason is pretty simple,
you know, the reason is because

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if she doesn't say
that when turbulence comes, you'll think

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she's lost control.

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You'll think she wasn't ready for it.

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She didn't know it was coming.

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So she tells you the turbulence is coming
so that when it hits,

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you'll still feel a way about it.

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But you won't worry
that the pilot has lost control.

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Listen, God talks a lot about suffering

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because he wants you to know
when it comes.

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He hasn't lost control, he's not
surprised, and he's still doing something.

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Suffering is inevitable.

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But the second thing I want you to see
is that not all suffering is the same.

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This is important.

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And actually this is something
that Christians get wrong a lot.

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You see, when you have a trite way
of thinking about suffering,

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you say trite things about it
and you actually can really hurt people.

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In fact,
if you're here and it's been a long time

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since you've been to church,
this might be why.

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And let me just say this.

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You know,
there are two ways of quitting church.

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You can stop coming, and then you can do
what I, what I think of as quiet quitting.

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You can come every week
but be totally disconnected.

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And if that's where you find yourself,
this might be why?

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Because Christians can say
some pretty stupid stuff that hurt people.

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Not all suffering is the same.

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Look with me at verses 14 through 16.

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Here's what the writer
says. We'll look at the screen.

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If you are

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insulted for the name of Christ,
you are blessed

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because the spirit of glory
and of God rests upon you.

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But let none of you suffer as a murderer,

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or a thief, or an evildoer,
or as a meddler.

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Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian,
let him not be ashamed,

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but let him glorify God in
that name is a really funny way of saying,

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because he goes, listen, listen.

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If you're suffering for your faith,
you're blessed.

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And he goes, but if you're suffering
as a murderer, you're not.

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And like,
I didn't know we needed to say that.

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Like, hey, if any of you are thinking
about murder, don't do it, okay?

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You probably know that. What's he saying?

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He's saying not all suffering is the same.

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Some suffering you and I. Cause

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that's what he's saying.

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It's like, hey, if you're suffering
as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer,

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or some of you need to hear this
as a meddler

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like you brought it on yourself,

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Galatians six says this, be not deceived.

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God is not mocked. Whatever you.

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So you're also going to reap,
in other words, a way of saying that is,

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if you don't take care of your body,
at some point, it's going to break down.

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If you are dishonest
in your business practices,

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at some point that's going to cost you.

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If you don't get control of your drinking,
that's going to harm you.

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And when that happens, that suffering,
that's the product of your choice.

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Some suffering we cause,
some suffering is the second kind.

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Someone else causes.

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I mean, after all,
if it's possible to suffer as a murderer

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or an evil doer or a meddler,
then it's also possible to suffer

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because someone else is a murderer
or an evildoer or a meddler.

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Sometimes we suffer because even though
we were faithful, our spouse wasn't.

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Even though we did our

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work with integrity,
our business partners didn't.

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Some of our moms and dads
couldn't get control of their drinking.

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Sometimes you suffer
because of someone else,

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and then sometimes he says, you suffer
because of your faith,

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because you're obeying God
and it it cost you.

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Here's the point he's making.

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This is not an exhaustive
list, by the way.

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These are three ways you can suffer.

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There are actually probably 27 ways.

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Suffering comes from a lot of places.

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It might surprise you
that the Bible never actually encouraged

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us, or invites us to pick

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apart our suffering and try to figure out
where it's coming from.

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There are a lot of reasons
people suffer, and the problem is

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when we forget that,
we come up with overly simplistic answers

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to a complex and nuanced question
why am I suffering?

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Like, for example,
maybe you've heard this.

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Some churches will teach you
that if you're suffering, it's

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because you did something bad.

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And these

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churches are really good at giving you
a list of all the bad things.

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Like if you're suffering, it's
probably because you watched a movie

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you shouldn't have,
or you said a word you shouldn't have.

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00:11:20,780 --> 00:11:23,733
And until you're sorry for that,
you're going to keep suffering.

235
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So you go to the doctor,
you get a terrible diagnosis,

236
00:11:25,918 --> 00:11:28,921
and your first instinct is to say,
what did I do?

237
00:11:29,238 --> 00:11:30,573
What did I do?

238
00:11:30,573 --> 00:11:34,160
The Bible does say
some suffering is because of your choices,

239
00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:37,163
but not all suffering,

240
00:11:37,680 --> 00:11:39,498
not all suffering.

241
00:11:39,498 --> 00:11:42,651
It's entirely possible you're suffering,
and it has nothing to do

242
00:11:42,651 --> 00:11:44,970
with anything that you've done.

243
00:11:44,970 --> 00:11:47,089
Here's the second way
I've seen this happen.

244
00:11:47,089 --> 00:11:48,741
Some I've grown up in the church.

245
00:11:48,741 --> 00:11:51,927
I have seen some pretty
awful things happen to women,

246
00:11:53,162 --> 00:11:54,380
and oftentimes what they're

247
00:11:54,380 --> 00:11:59,268
told is, God let this happen to you
so that you could help other women,

248
00:11:59,969 --> 00:12:04,023
which is a horrific thing to say,
as though God looked out over the world

249
00:12:04,023 --> 00:12:05,808
and said, hey,
there's this group of women out there

250
00:12:05,808 --> 00:12:09,812
that I care very deeply about and I need
to help them through a bad experience.

251
00:12:09,829 --> 00:12:11,397
So give me a name of somebody

252
00:12:11,397 --> 00:12:14,417
we don't care about
so we can have her go through trauma.

253
00:12:14,633 --> 00:12:17,036
What's her name? Oh, yeah. Her.

254
00:12:17,036 --> 00:12:20,272
Let's let's have her experience
horrific things

255
00:12:21,891 --> 00:12:23,793
so that we can help them.

256
00:12:23,793 --> 00:12:24,810
Does the Bible teach that?

257
00:12:24,810 --> 00:12:28,497
Sometimes God uses suffering to turn you
into someone who can help people?

258
00:12:28,497 --> 00:12:28,914
Sure.

259
00:12:28,914 --> 00:12:31,917
Is that why everybody suffers? Absolutely.

260
00:12:32,034 --> 00:12:36,472
And you see, when we reduce suffering down
as though it's all the same, we give

261
00:12:36,472 --> 00:12:40,743
trite, simplistic answers that actually do
a lot of damage to people.

262
00:12:40,743 --> 00:12:41,927
And if that's your story,

263
00:12:43,195 --> 00:12:45,481
can I just ask you to do something?

264
00:12:45,481 --> 00:12:47,433
Just think about it.

265
00:12:47,433 --> 00:12:50,419
You have to let God speak for God.

266
00:12:51,654 --> 00:12:54,273
You cannot let Christians speak for God

267
00:12:54,273 --> 00:12:56,876
because man, we will say
some stupid things and you'll end up

268
00:12:56,876 --> 00:13:00,629
turning away from God not because of
anything he said or anything he did,

269
00:13:00,963 --> 00:13:04,667
but because of things we said
and things we did not.

270
00:13:04,667 --> 00:13:07,670
All suffering is the same.

271
00:13:07,770 --> 00:13:12,174
But here's my third point
all suffering has a purpose,

272
00:13:13,159 --> 00:13:14,577
and this one's
going to sting a little bit.

273
00:13:14,577 --> 00:13:15,961
But hang in there with me.

274
00:13:15,961 --> 00:13:19,398
All suffering has a purpose,
and the Bible says there's no use

275
00:13:19,398 --> 00:13:23,853
pulling apart suffering
to figure out what where it comes from.

276
00:13:23,853 --> 00:13:28,307
But but instead of trying to figure out
whose fault is this suffering?

277
00:13:28,307 --> 00:13:32,361
Instead, what it tells us is to ask,
what does God want to do

278
00:13:32,661 --> 00:13:33,562
with this suffering?

279
00:13:33,562 --> 00:13:35,931
Look at first
Peter chapter four, verse 19.

280
00:13:35,931 --> 00:13:37,883
We'll look at the screen. Here's
what it says.

281
00:13:37,883 --> 00:13:43,405
Therefore, let those who suffer
according to God's will listen.

282
00:13:43,405 --> 00:13:49,795
Entrust their souls to a faithful creator
while doing good.

283
00:13:49,795 --> 00:13:50,846
You see what he says?

284
00:13:50,846 --> 00:13:53,816
Here's what he's saying. Suffering is bad,

285
00:13:54,950 --> 00:13:57,720
but God is good.

286
00:13:57,720 --> 00:13:59,872
Suffering is bad, but God is good.

287
00:13:59,872 --> 00:14:00,272
Listen, he's.

288
00:14:00,272 --> 00:14:05,211
The Bible tells us that human history,
your life is not arbitrary.

289
00:14:05,477 --> 00:14:11,867
It's not random that God is writing
a story and that story is going somewhere.

290
00:14:11,867 --> 00:14:13,853
And listen, you know this about stories,

291
00:14:13,853 --> 00:14:17,606
the great stories that you read or watch
or or listen to or tell.

292
00:14:17,756 --> 00:14:21,093
All of them have chapters that are awful.

293
00:14:22,228 --> 00:14:24,113
All of them.

294
00:14:24,113 --> 00:14:27,333
But what the Bible is telling us
is that no matter how long

295
00:14:27,333 --> 00:14:32,421
or how many difficult chapters
you are in the story

296
00:14:32,538 --> 00:14:36,659
that God is writing is headed somewhere
and it's headed headed somewhere good.

297
00:14:36,659 --> 00:14:40,012
Suffering is bad, but God is good.

298
00:14:40,012 --> 00:14:46,201
Suffering is awful, but in God's hands
it can be used for good.

299
00:14:46,201 --> 00:14:49,188
In other words,
think about it this way all people suffer.

300
00:14:49,521 --> 00:14:51,857
Christians,
can I get me to say this to you?

301
00:14:51,857 --> 00:14:55,461
We don't suffer any more
or any worse than anybody else.

302
00:14:56,912 --> 00:14:57,830
All people suffer.

303
00:14:57,830 --> 00:15:02,751
Atheists, agnostics, Muslims, Hindus,
Buddhists, Jewish people, everybody

304
00:15:03,302 --> 00:15:04,970
suffers.

305
00:15:04,970 --> 00:15:07,823
You might say, well, we suffer
for what we believe and everybody suffers

306
00:15:07,823 --> 00:15:08,691
for what they believe in.

307
00:15:08,691 --> 00:15:11,694
Have you ever been on social media?

308
00:15:12,027 --> 00:15:13,045
Everybody suffers.

309
00:15:13,045 --> 00:15:17,549
But but here's what separates Christians
from those that are not Christians.

310
00:15:17,549 --> 00:15:19,735
It is not the experience of suffering.

311
00:15:19,735 --> 00:15:24,690
It is the idea that there is a good God
who is working in suffering,

312
00:15:24,740 --> 00:15:25,824
taking us somewhere good.

313
00:15:25,824 --> 00:15:28,193
Like, let me just throw some examples
at you from the Bible.

314
00:15:28,193 --> 00:15:31,196
Sometimes in the Bible, suffering,

315
00:15:31,347 --> 00:15:34,350
sometimes in the Bible,
suffering is a stop sign.

316
00:15:35,250 --> 00:15:38,153
Like for instance, Israel goes to war.

317
00:15:38,153 --> 00:15:40,889
In the book of Joshua
with this little village called I.

318
00:15:40,889 --> 00:15:43,192
It's like Ohio
State playing Bowling Green.

319
00:15:43,192 --> 00:15:45,945
No offense. If you went to Bowling
Green. Go. Falcons can

320
00:15:47,029 --> 00:15:50,032
and and Israel goes to war with AI
and they lose.

321
00:15:50,182 --> 00:15:53,485
And Joshua goes back to the camp
and he throws himself on the ground.

322
00:15:53,485 --> 00:15:55,821
And he says to God,
oh God, how could you do this to us?

323
00:15:55,821 --> 00:15:57,623
How could we lose? And God says, get up.

324
00:15:57,623 --> 00:15:59,358
You have corruption in your camp,

325
00:15:59,358 --> 00:16:02,361
and until you deal with it,
you won't win another battle.

326
00:16:03,329 --> 00:16:04,580
That suffering is a stop sign.

327
00:16:04,580 --> 00:16:06,498
Stop doing what you're doing.

328
00:16:06,498 --> 00:16:08,867
Sometimes suffering is sandpaper.

329
00:16:08,867 --> 00:16:10,069
It's working out the edges.

330
00:16:10,069 --> 00:16:12,838
The Book of Jonah
Jonah spends three days in a fish

331
00:16:12,838 --> 00:16:15,841
because he's an ethno centrist
and a racist.

332
00:16:15,958 --> 00:16:17,910
God doesn't want the fish for Jonah.

333
00:16:17,910 --> 00:16:19,712
He wants neighbor love for Jonah.

334
00:16:19,712 --> 00:16:22,681
But for Jonah to get there,
he's got to go through the fish.

335
00:16:22,681 --> 00:16:25,200
Jonah's suffering. Is God working out?

336
00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:29,455
Jonah would never be who God wanted him
to be, who he should be without the fish.

337
00:16:29,455 --> 00:16:32,458
Sometimes suffering is a spotlight.

338
00:16:32,574 --> 00:16:34,560
Saul is on the road to Damascus.

339
00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:36,829
He sees Jesus in a vision. He's blinded.

340
00:16:36,829 --> 00:16:40,382
And Jesus says, if you ever want your
eyesight back, here's what you got to do.

341
00:16:40,399 --> 00:16:42,151
He's getting Saul's attention.

342
00:16:42,151 --> 00:16:43,135
He's turning Saul.

343
00:16:43,135 --> 00:16:46,105
In Nepal,
sometimes suffering is a steering wheel.

344
00:16:46,105 --> 00:16:48,457
In acts one eight,
Jesus tells the disciples,

345
00:16:48,457 --> 00:16:51,777
take the gospel to all the nations,
and they decide they don't want to do it.

346
00:16:51,777 --> 00:16:53,162
They want to stay in Jerusalem.

347
00:16:53,162 --> 00:16:56,482
So God uses the murder of Stephen
and the persecution of the church

348
00:16:56,482 --> 00:16:57,833
to scatter Christians.

349
00:16:57,833 --> 00:17:00,836
And that's why you're hearing the gospel
today.

350
00:17:01,053 --> 00:17:03,439
There are 57 ways God uses suffering.

351
00:17:03,439 --> 00:17:06,442
Here's the point suffering is awful.

352
00:17:06,842 --> 00:17:07,459
God is good.

353
00:17:08,660 --> 00:17:11,063
Suffering is terrible.

354
00:17:11,063 --> 00:17:13,248
God is writing a story that is good.

355
00:17:13,248 --> 00:17:17,986
The writer says, don't celebrate
suffering, but trust that in the hands

356
00:17:18,087 --> 00:17:21,140
of a good God
writing a good story that loves you,

357
00:17:21,290 --> 00:17:24,476
it will be used for good.

358
00:17:24,626 --> 00:17:27,629
And I know that. Listen, I know that hard.

359
00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:28,697
You say, well, wait a minute.

360
00:17:28,697 --> 00:17:32,184
You're asking me to believe
that God loves me and he loves me,

361
00:17:32,251 --> 00:17:35,370
so he uses suffering to get my attention.

362
00:17:35,454 --> 00:17:38,457
Can he do it some other way?

363
00:17:38,807 --> 00:17:39,241
What do you mean?

364
00:17:39,241 --> 00:17:42,227
Like write a book?

365
00:17:44,730 --> 00:17:47,733
Send his son.

366
00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,003
Give you his Holy Spirit.

367
00:17:51,270 --> 00:17:53,238
Now, the truth is, sometimes

368
00:17:53,238 --> 00:17:56,241
suffering is the only way
God can get my attention.

369
00:17:57,593 --> 00:17:58,277
So you're saying.

370
00:17:58,277 --> 00:17:58,944
So wait a minute.

371
00:17:58,944 --> 00:18:01,830
So God loves me, but he uses suffering.

372
00:18:01,830 --> 00:18:03,265
How can I ever believe that? In friends?

373
00:18:03,265 --> 00:18:05,451
There's only one answer to that
in the entire universe.

374
00:18:05,451 --> 00:18:09,321
You've got to look at any religion,
any church, any podcast, any YouTuber.

375
00:18:09,321 --> 00:18:12,474
There's only one answer
that even tries to answer this.

376
00:18:12,474 --> 00:18:16,795
How can I trust that God loves me
when he uses suffering in my life?

377
00:18:16,945 --> 00:18:19,281
And the answer to that is Jesus Christ.

378
00:18:20,282 --> 00:18:21,567
Jesus was a sufferer.

379
00:18:21,567 --> 00:18:24,570
Don't you know that?

380
00:18:25,771 --> 00:18:27,206
Jesus didn't suffer because of him.

381
00:18:27,206 --> 00:18:30,559
He suffered because of evil people
and because of obedience to God.

382
00:18:30,559 --> 00:18:32,461
But God didn't always say, listen,
I'm not even going to teach you that.

383
00:18:32,461 --> 00:18:35,931
I'm going to read you that look with me
at the screens in Isaiah 53

384
00:18:35,931 --> 00:18:39,384
and notice two things the suffering of
Jesus and how God uses it.

385
00:18:39,384 --> 00:18:41,003
Let's just read it. Here's what it says.

386
00:18:41,003 --> 00:18:44,006
Who has believed
what he has heard from us?

387
00:18:44,273 --> 00:18:47,276
And to whom has the arm of the Lord
been revealed?

388
00:18:47,543 --> 00:18:49,945
For he grew up before him
like a young plant,

389
00:18:49,945 --> 00:18:52,798
and like a root out of dry ground.

390
00:18:52,798 --> 00:18:56,368
He had no form or majesty
that we should look at him, no beauty

391
00:18:56,368 --> 00:18:57,920
that we should desire him. Listen.

392
00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:01,023
He was despised and rejected by men,

393
00:19:01,173 --> 00:19:06,261
a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief,
and as one from whom men

394
00:19:06,378 --> 00:19:10,916
hide their faces,
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

395
00:19:11,517 --> 00:19:15,020
Surely he has borne our griefs,
and carried our sorrows.

396
00:19:15,020 --> 00:19:16,371
Yet we esteemed him stricken.

397
00:19:16,371 --> 00:19:19,591
Listen, smitten by God and afflicted.

398
00:19:20,008 --> 00:19:22,761
But he was pierced for our transgressions.

399
00:19:22,761 --> 00:19:25,380
He was crushed for our iniquities.

400
00:19:25,380 --> 00:19:28,433
Upon him was the chastisement
that brought us peace.

401
00:19:28,433 --> 00:19:30,953
And with his wounds we are healed.

402
00:19:30,953 --> 00:19:33,539
All we like sheep have gone astray.

403
00:19:33,539 --> 00:19:36,542
We have turned every one to his own way.

404
00:19:36,542 --> 00:19:40,279
And the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

405
00:19:41,029 --> 00:19:46,018
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth like a lamb

406
00:19:46,018 --> 00:19:50,038
that is led to the slaughter, like a sheep
before its shearers is silent.

407
00:19:50,189 --> 00:19:52,341
So he opened not his mouth.

408
00:19:52,341 --> 00:19:54,960
By oppression and judgment
he was taken away.

409
00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:58,347
And as for his generation,
who considered that he was cut off

410
00:19:58,463 --> 00:20:02,401
out of the land of the living, stricken
for the transgressions of my people.

411
00:20:03,051 --> 00:20:06,738
And they made his grave with the wicked,
and with a rich man in his death.

412
00:20:06,872 --> 00:20:10,459
Although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth,

413
00:20:11,043 --> 00:20:13,562
yet it was the will of the Lord
to crush him.

414
00:20:13,562 --> 00:20:14,997
He has put him to grief.

415
00:20:14,997 --> 00:20:19,101
When his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring.

416
00:20:19,201 --> 00:20:20,936
He shall prolong his days.

417
00:20:20,936 --> 00:20:23,989
The will of the Lord shall prosper
in his hand.

418
00:20:24,356 --> 00:20:26,241
Out of the anguish of his soul.

419
00:20:26,241 --> 00:20:27,960
He shall see and be satisfied.

420
00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:32,214
By his knowledge shall the righteous one,
my servant, make many to be accounted

421
00:20:32,214 --> 00:20:35,367
righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.

422
00:20:35,634 --> 00:20:38,387
Therefore
I will divide him a portion with the many,

423
00:20:38,387 --> 00:20:41,790
and he will divide the spoil
with the strong, because he poured out

424
00:20:41,790 --> 00:20:45,377
his soul to death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.

425
00:20:45,377 --> 00:20:49,381
Yet he bore the sin of many, and he makes
intercession for the transgressors.

426
00:20:49,381 --> 00:20:51,984
Friends, Jesus was a sufferer,

427
00:20:53,302 --> 00:20:56,305
but it wasn't wasted.

428
00:20:57,055 --> 00:20:58,824
What happened to Jesus was awful.

429
00:20:58,824 --> 00:20:59,958
It was evil.

430
00:20:59,958 --> 00:21:02,961
Nowhere does the Bible call it good.

431
00:21:03,712 --> 00:21:05,664
But in the hands of God,

432
00:21:05,664 --> 00:21:08,667
who's good, who's writing a story, it's
what saved us.

433
00:21:08,784 --> 00:21:10,702
It's what forgave us.

434
00:21:10,702 --> 00:21:13,705
Friends, Christians ask God,
where are you?

435
00:21:14,306 --> 00:21:16,191
God, what are you doing? You have to.

436
00:21:16,191 --> 00:21:18,360
That's human. You. You have to ask that.

437
00:21:18,360 --> 00:21:21,363
And if that makes you uncomfortable,
read the Psalms.

438
00:21:22,547 --> 00:21:25,367
But then we ask,

439
00:21:25,367 --> 00:21:26,852
what are you doing?

440
00:21:26,852 --> 00:21:28,136
Okay.

441
00:21:28,136 --> 00:21:29,788
What do you want?

442
00:21:29,788 --> 00:21:31,590
Where are you taking me?

443
00:21:31,590 --> 00:21:33,325
Who do I need to become?

444
00:21:33,325 --> 00:21:37,045
I hate this, but I trust you.

445
00:21:37,763 --> 00:21:40,832
And of course, that leads me
to my fourth point, which is to say that

446
00:21:40,832 --> 00:21:43,819
suffering asks a question.

447
00:21:44,336 --> 00:21:47,222
And the question is the question
for Jonah.

448
00:21:47,222 --> 00:21:49,257
The question for Joshua,

449
00:21:49,257 --> 00:21:52,194
the question for Saul, the question
for the disciples, the question for you.

450
00:21:52,194 --> 00:21:53,095
The question for me is,

451
00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:56,782
do you want

452
00:21:56,782 --> 00:21:59,785
to go where God wants to take you?

453
00:22:00,952 --> 00:22:02,904
Do you want to be who God wants you to be?

454
00:22:02,904 --> 00:22:07,159
Do you want for your family
what God wants for your family?

455
00:22:07,159 --> 00:22:12,047
Because suffering is a necessary,
scary way of getting there.

456
00:22:12,114 --> 00:22:16,018
Listen, if you want what God wants, then
you might need the fish.

457
00:22:19,738 --> 00:22:22,741
If all you want out of life is momentary
happiness,

458
00:22:22,891 --> 00:22:26,928
a lake house, some nice vacations,
beautiful kids.

459
00:22:26,928 --> 00:22:27,229
Who, Mary.

460
00:22:27,229 --> 00:22:29,448
Beautiful people have beautiful grandkids
and then you die.

461
00:22:29,448 --> 00:22:32,451
If that's all you want,
then suffering will happen.

462
00:22:32,451 --> 00:22:35,454
It will be meaningless
and it will rock you.

463
00:22:36,538 --> 00:22:39,541
But God says, I'm writing a story
so much bigger than you.

464
00:22:40,492 --> 00:22:42,978
Do you want to be part of that?

465
00:22:42,978 --> 00:22:44,930
Because if you do, then suffering

466
00:22:44,930 --> 00:22:48,200
might just be a tool God uses.

467
00:22:48,350 --> 00:22:50,519
Friends, hear me, hear me.

468
00:22:50,519 --> 00:22:52,738
Maybe you need to stop drinking.

469
00:22:54,139 --> 00:22:55,006
Maybe you need to

470
00:22:55,006 --> 00:22:58,343
step up into the leadership
God is calling you.

471
00:22:58,343 --> 00:23:01,913
Maybe you need to live out the vision
he has for your family.

472
00:23:01,913 --> 00:23:02,898
Friends, hear me on this.

473
00:23:02,898 --> 00:23:06,451
What if suffering is not a sign
that God has forgotten you?

474
00:23:06,535 --> 00:23:09,571
What if it is a sign you are in the center

475
00:23:09,571 --> 00:23:12,557
of his attention?

476
00:23:14,393 --> 00:23:17,396
Wasn't it that way for Jonah?

477
00:23:17,729 --> 00:23:20,732
Wasn't it that way for Saul?

478
00:23:21,049 --> 00:23:24,052
What if we've thought about it all wrong?

479
00:23:25,554 --> 00:23:26,972
Because if we have, then

480
00:23:26,972 --> 00:23:30,208
that means we experience the suffering.

481
00:23:30,208 --> 00:23:33,211
But our eyes are on the horizon.

482
00:23:33,261 --> 00:23:33,962
That's what Paul says.

483
00:23:33,962 --> 00:23:35,580
And second Corinthians four,
look with me at the screen.

484
00:23:35,580 --> 00:23:37,499
Here's what it says.

485
00:23:37,499 --> 00:23:39,618
So we do not lose heart.

486
00:23:39,618 --> 00:23:42,120
Though our outer self is wasting away,

487
00:23:42,120 --> 00:23:45,290
our inner self is being renewed
day by day.

488
00:23:45,857 --> 00:23:49,711
For this light
momentary affliction is preparing for us

489
00:23:49,795 --> 00:23:55,434
in eternal weight of glory
beyond all comparison, as we look

490
00:23:55,434 --> 00:23:58,637
not to the things that are seen,
but to the things that are unseen.

491
00:23:58,637 --> 00:24:00,655
For the things that are
seen are transient,

492
00:24:00,655 --> 00:24:03,058
but the things that are
unseen are eternal.

493
00:24:03,058 --> 00:24:05,310
Suffering is awful.

494
00:24:07,496 --> 00:24:09,381
But God,

495
00:24:09,381 --> 00:24:10,799
God is good.

496
00:24:10,799 --> 00:24:11,450
Let me pray for us.

497
00:24:11,450 --> 00:24:14,820
Father God, thank you so much
for your honesty about suffering.

498
00:24:15,921 --> 00:24:18,206
Thank you
that it does not mean you've lost control.

499
00:24:18,206 --> 00:24:21,209
Thank you
that it does not mean you've forgotten us.

500
00:24:21,259 --> 00:24:22,878
Thank you for the ways you use it.

501
00:24:22,878 --> 00:24:25,997
But Holy Spirit, my prayer is
I couldn't possibly know what

502
00:24:25,997 --> 00:24:29,251
every single person is
is dealing with in this room.

503
00:24:29,251 --> 00:24:32,304
Could you put your finger
on what you want to do

504
00:24:32,304 --> 00:24:35,307
in their suffering?

505
00:24:36,508 --> 00:24:38,693
Could you give them some clarity,
some hope,

506
00:24:38,693 --> 00:24:41,696
some purpose?

507
00:24:44,149 --> 00:24:46,051
Could you help us trust you?

508
00:24:46,051 --> 00:24:48,803
In Jesus name we pray.

509
00:24:48,803 --> 00:24:49,120
Amen.